Display-case closure



sept. 27, 1927. 1,643,632

A. G. sTEFl-IENS` DISPLAY CASE CLOSURE Filed Julyzs,l lze m vinrof, Albert 6. tcphen,

Patented Sept. 27, 1927.

ALBERT esrnrnnlvs; or INDrANAronrs, nvDrANA..

nIsPLAY-Casll oLosUnrl.

Application led July 29,

This invent-ion relates to service displaycases as, for example, 'cases having .glass fronts and partitions to hold supplies of a variety of Vproducts visible to the purchaser and accessible to the vendorywhereby the vendor may take quantities of the produc-ts from the case readily and deliver tothe purchaser, and the invention in particular relates to the rear side construction ofthe case.

Heretofore cases having a number of individual compartlnents opening to lthe rear have had vindividual door enclosures hinged to each compartment and solne` type of catch was required to secure the door. Such cona struction required a large, amount of hardware for a multiple ,conlpartmentfcasa and as the case usually was positioned to' form a narrow aisle at its back, the catches projecting from the doors interfered greatly with the actions of the attendant.

Vf ith my invention, 'I 'eliminate all hinges and catches and permit quick and easy access to any compartment either to the upper art of the compartment or' directly to the oor l of the con'lpal-tment, and I achieve a closure not only having a verylow cost of production, but one quickly assembled and as quickly removed from the rea-r of the compartment. f

Numerous other advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description in reference to the accompanyi ing drawing, in which- Fig. 1, is a rear elevation of a multiple compartment case;

Fig. 2, a fragmentary side elevation of the case;

Fig. 3, a vertical section through the lower compartments on the line 3-3 inFig. 2;

Fig. 4, a rear elevation of a single closure unit;

Fig. 5, a vertical section through the unit on the line 5-5 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6, a vertical section through the unit on the same line 5 5 butwith botll doors lowered;

Fig. 7, a horizontal section through the closure unit on the line 7--7 in Fig. 4; and

Fig. 8, a single door and its guides removed from the case.

Like4 characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the various views.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, I form a door 10 with a slot or deep rabbet 11 along each vertical edge to receive therein the door leze. serial No; 125,805.y

guide 12 so that the guide 12 may be dropped back into rthe rabbet v11 tov bri-ng the `outer edge of the 0uide 12 ush with 'or below the door edge. eferring to Fig.,4, the frame 13 has slots or rabbets 14 out in the vertical members so that when the door 10 and the two guides 12 (Fig. 8) are placed 'in the fram-e 13, the guides 12 may be pushed from the door' rabbets 11 into the frame rabbets 14, but the frame rabbets 14 are ovf-a depth less than the width of the guides 12 whereby, when the guides 12 are fully insertedinto tllerrabbetsy 14, theguides 12 still extend yto witl'lin Athe door rabbets 11.

YVhile the guides 12 tit loosely so as to slide freely inthe door rabbets 11,the guides 12 are frictionally held within the frame Yrabbets 14 so thatthe guides 12 remain in the frame rabbets 14 until forcibly pulled therefrom.v The guides 12 extend substantially the .entire height within the frame 13 over which the kdoor is `to be operated.' For a given frame height, the door 10 is preferably out to a trifle 'less than half of the height of the entire vframe opening, and a second door 15, similarly formed with the side rabbets to receive another pair of guides 16 likewise retained lin rabbets in'theframe 1:3, is employed whereby the remainder ,of

the opening may be closed, thedoor 15 being more thanhalfithe height of the opening so as to project beyond the door :10 when the two doors are in either the extreme topvor lower positions, Figs. 5 and 6. This second door 15, here shown as the upper door, though the relative positions may be reversed, is carried in the frame 13 so as to slide up and down closely behind the door 10, and when the door 15 is pushed to the top, and the door 10 is push-ed to the bottom, the entire openingthrough the frame 13 is then closed, as in Figs. 1, 4, and 5.

On each side of the frame and above each guide 12 and 16, I tix a spring 17 outwardly bowed as a means of securing either or both doors 10 and 15 at the top of the frame, as in the lower compartment Fig. v2. The springs 17 are so formed as to permitthe doors to slide up over them so that the springs compressively engage the doors therebetween. A slight pull downward will release either or both doors.

The doors 10 and 15 may be quickly removed from the frame 13 by simplypulling the guides 12 and 16 out of the frame rabbets and back into the door rabbets, and the doors lifted out. No catches are required and neither are hinges.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3. It is desirable in some instances to use a divider 18 so as to permit scooping the contents of the bin or compartment from under the pile to prevent damage to the contents, to prevent disturbing the forward part of the pile, and to prevent damaging the contents, and my invention is of particular advantage in such instances. The divider 18 is detachably held over the two screws 19, one on either side of the frame 13, andvslopes downwardly and f forwardly to rest on the supporting legs 20.

Assuming the compartment to be closed, access to the compartment may be had through either door 10 or 15 as may be desired.

Dropping the door 15 as in the upper compartment, F ig. 2, will give access over the top of the divider, or leaving the door 15 in its lupper closed position, the door 10 may be raised as in the lower compartment, Fig, 2, and thecontents accordingly may be removed from above or below the divider 18.

I claim: Y

1. In a show case, a door frame having parallel rabbets cut in each of the opposite vertical sides, a lower door having a rabbet cut in each vertical edge, a door guide slidingly entered in each of said door rabbets and frictionally engaged in said door frame l rabbets, said door rabbets being of suiiicient depth whereby said guides may be withdrawn from the door frame rabbets to en tirely within the door rabbets, whereby the door may be removed entirely from the frame, an upper door having a rabbet out in each vertical edge, and a second guide slidingly entered in each of said door rabbets and frictionally engaged in the door frame rabbet parallel to said first door frame rabbet, said upper door rabbets being sufficiently deep to carry the said second guides entirely within the rabbets upon the door guides being withdrawn from the door frame rabbets, whereby said lower door may be removed entirely from the frame, said door frame rabbets being positioned to permit the two doors to slidingly pass one over the other, and all of said guides each beingL appreciablyY longer than the height of the doors.

2. A show-case having a rear opening frame, an upper door, a lower door, an upper door guide frictionally engaged in the door frame on each side to project to within slots cut in each vertical edge'of the upper door, said door slots being suciently deep so that the guides may be pulled into the slots to permit the door being entirely removed from the frame,y a lower door, a lower door guide frictionally engaged in the do-or frame on each side and spaced apart from said upper door guide to project to within a slot on each vertical edge of the lower door,.said lower rdoor slots being sufliciently deep to permit said lower door guides to be pulled back therein and the door removed entirely from the frame, each of said doors thereby being vertically slidingly carried in the frame, one to pass over the other, a divider board `positioned in the case to have its rear upper edge near thel top edges of both doors when in the lowest positions in thev frame, whereby said upper door may be raised to close the openinoh over said divider board and said lower coor raised to provide an opening under the divider board.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ALBERT G. STEPHENS. 

